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EVENTS

Yesterday Russell and Don did a show, on the topic of “Christian Message Subtext.” Here is the Blip video:

Also, I’m happy to say that the official Atheist Experience YouTube channel is finally back in business. Please expect a few days for new videos to appear on YouTube. Jen is working hard to convert the last several months of shows to YouTube format.

Our new fan, Pete, wrote to us to tell us we really need to consider the concerns he brings up about marriage equality, namely, that allowing gay people to adopt kids is a violation of the kids’ rights. When we consider his concerns, he admonishes us to be “unbiased and completely honest.”

Pete presents a fairly common argument among people who don’t grasp that marriage equality and adoption by gay parents are two separate issues, and his misplaced concern for children does not constitute a valid secular argument against either.

I don’t want to say much more, because Pete’s email really says it all. Here it is, in all its glory, with my replies:

A reader asked what we thought of the movie Life of Pi, and since I’ve never brought up my opinions on the blog before, I figured I should share them. I read the book years before seeing the movie, enjoyed it with some reservations. The movie was beautifully done. This review will contain spoilers, so be forewarned.

I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to share my experience of the convention with people. I figure that even if few people read them, I’d like to look back at these posts in a few years and remember how enjoyable it was. In case you missed some, here are the recaps of:

In case it wasn’t obvious from those four posts, I had an amazing time. I don’t regularly get the opportunity to travel out of town for these conventions, and it was kind of American Atheists to host this particularly enormous event in my home town. I loved the speakers, but just getting to meet and swap stories with people who have influenced me or been influenced by me, was really enjoyable.

After lunch on Sunday, Lynnea and I returned to hear David Tamayo speak about promoting atheism among the Hispanic community. Hispanics are natural atheist allies, says David, but it’s tough to promote minority communities leaving religious infrastructures. Tamayo suggested that confronting women’s issues more is a key to unlocking this demographic, since Hispanic families tend to be somewhat matriarchal.

My wife Lynnea joined me on the final day of the convention, having a day pass for her participation in the live Godless Bitches broadcast in the evening. We had to get there by 9:00 in order to catch Jerry DeWitt‘s Easter Sermon, because Jerry rocks.

I know everybody’s expecting to be fooled today, but no kidding, we’re all pretty tired. So instead of doing that, here’s more American Atheists convention goodness.

Saturday morning I arrived in time to catch most of a panel discussion by Kelly Mochel, Dale McGowan, and Sarah Morehead about parenting. I know Dale as the author of Parenting Beyond Belief, a book which I haven’t read but recommend to parents in our audience based on its reputation. I went and chatted with Dale about my thoughts on parenting, Santa Claus, and the appropriate context to introduce Bible stories, which I’ve discussed in previous blog posts. Dale is promoting a new book, and we’re hoping to get him on some shows in the near future.